Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the annual Women in the World Summit in New York City. / Marc Bryan-Brown, AP

by Natalie DiBlasio and Catalina Camia,
USA TODAY

by Natalie DiBlasio and Catalina Camia,
USA TODAY

NEW YORK - If Hillary Rodham Clinton needs some encouragement to get back into politics, then the audience at the Women in the World Summit gave her plenty.

The crowd shouted and applauded when a video clip played of Clinton, the former secretary of State, senator and first lady who may or may not run for president in 2016.

Everyone jumped to their feet as Clinton and Tina Brown, editor in chief of Newsweek and the Daily Beast, took the stage together to kick off the second day of the fourth annual conference.

"The big question about Hillary is what's next?" Brown said, drawing hollers from the crowd as people shouted "2016" about Clinton.

Brown later tweeted: "Was supposed to introduce #Hillary alone. She said to me in the green room: "Let's march out together."

In her remarks, Clinton gave a rousing speech on behalf of women's rights in the USA and abroad, saying it is a "core imperative" for society.

"When women participate in the economy, in peace-making and peace-keeping, we all benefit," she said. "Giving women and girls a fighting chance isn't a nice thing to do, it's a core imperative for every society."

She had a special message for the younger women in the audience, urging them to seek change and to fight for women's rights.

"Women are not victims, we are agents of change," she said.

Clinton emerged this week from a few months' rest since leaving President Obama's Cabinet, adding to the buzz about her political future. She was at the Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards in Washington on Tuesday night, paying tribute to her former chief of staff, Melanne Verveer, who founded the group.

Democratic strategist James Carville also sent out a fundraising pitch this week for Ready for Hillary, a super PAC dedicated to urging Clinton to make a 2016 White House bid.

Clinton was followed on stage by daughter Chelsea, who led a panel on technology.